Related papers: Branched covers bounding rational homology balls

By using double branched covers, we prove that there is a 1-1 correspondence between the set of knotoids in the 2-sphere, up to orientation reversion and rotation, and knots with a strong inversion, up to conjugacy. This correspondence…

In the present paper we prove decomposition formulae for the braided symmetric powers of simple modules over the quantized enveloping algebra $U_q(sl_2)$; natural quantum analogues of the classical symmetric powers of a module over a…

In this paper we prove that the Casson-Gordon invariants of the connected sum of two knots split when the Alexander polynomials of the knots are coprime. As one application, for any knot K, all but finitely many algebraically slice twisted…

We establish homotopy ribbon concordance obstructions coming from the Blanchfield form and Levine-Tristram signatures. Then, as an application of twisted Alexander polynomials, we show that for every knot K with nontrivial Alexander…

We show that, given $d \geq 4$ and two closed connected oriented PL $4$-manifolds $M$ and $N$ such that $N$ has a handle decomposition with no $1$- and $3$-handles, there exists a $d$-fold simple branched covering $p \colon M \darrow{d} N$…

In this paper we study the connections between cyclic presentations of groups and branched cyclic coverings of (1,1)-knots. In particular, we prove that every n-fold strongly-cyclic branched covering of a (1,1)-knot admits a cyclic…

Let K be a knot in S^3. We study the iterated Bing doubles of K, giving a new proof for the following statement: If BD_n(K) is slice for some n, then K is algebraically slice. This result was first proved by Cha and Kim using covering link…

This paper introduces a new algebra, the crossing algebra, that is applied to count the number of components for arborescent knots, links, tangles or states (of a state polynomial expansion such as the Kauffman bracket). This algebra is…

We prove that all knots with unknotting number at most 21 are smoothly slice in the K3 surface. We also prove a more general statement for 4-manifolds that contain a plumbing tree of spheres. Our strategy is based on a flexible method to…

It is known that if any prime power branched cyclic cover of a knot in the 3-sphere is a homology sphere, then the knot has vanishing Casson-Gordon invariants. We construct infinitely many examples of (topologically) non-slice knots in the…

We show that for the pretzel knots $K_k=P(3,-3,-2k-1)$, the $n$-fold cyclic branched covers are L-spaces for all $n\geq 1$. In addition, we show that the knots $K_k$ with $k\geq 1$ are quasipositive and slice, answering a question of…

An analysis of extensive simulations of interacting self-avoiding polygons on cubic lattice shows that the frequencies of different knots realized in a random, collapsed polymer ring decrease as a negative power of the ranking order, and…

Suppose that Y is a cyclic cover of projective space branched over a hyperplane arrangement D, and that U is the complement of the ramification locus in Y. The first theorem implies that the Beilinson-Hodge conjecture holds for U if certain…

The main aim of this paper is to show that a cyclic cover of $\mathbb{P}^n$ branched along a very general divisor of degree $d$ is not stably rational provided that $n \ge 3$ and $d \ge n+1$. This generalizes the result of…

We introduce and study the notion of equivariant $\mathbb{Q}$-sliceness for strongly invertible knots. On the constructive side, we prove that every Klein amphichiral knot, which is a strongly invertible knot admitting a compatible negative…

We study the left-orderability of the fundamental groups of cyclic branched covers of links which admit co-oriented taut foliations. In particular we do this for cyclic branched covers of fibred knots in integer homology $3$-spheres and…

The twisted Alexander polynomial of a knot is defined associated to a linear representation of the knot group. If there exists a surjective homomorphism of a knot group onto a finite group, then we obtain a representation of the knot group…

By considering a (not necessarily locally-flat) PL knot as the singular locus of a PL stratified pseudomanifold, we can use intersection homology theory to define intersection Alexander polynomials, a generalization of the classical…

We consider the probability of knotting in equilateral random polygons in Euclidean 3-dimensional space, which model, for instance, random polymers. Results from an extensive Monte Carlo dataset of random polygons indicate a universal…

We describe an alternative way of computing Alexander polynomials of knots/links, based on the Artin representation of the corresponding braids by automorphisms of a free group. Then we apply the same method to other representations of…